The present invention relates to a method for controlling a water supply system for use with a machine tool, in particular a core drilling machine, containing a housing with at least one interface for supplying the machine tool with electrical energy, a water tank for storing water in a positionable manner in the housing, at least one line for transporting water from the water tank to the machine tool, at least one pump device for conveying water from the water tank to the machine tool, a current measuring device for measuring the motor current on the machine tool, a water-pressure measuring device for measuring a water pressure in the line and a control device.
Water supply systems (water treatment systems or water recycling systems are also considered water supply systems) are an essential and indispensable necessity in almost all core drilling work as well as in numerous other types of work with large machine tools. Instead of attaching a core drilling machine to a fresh water line which cools the drill bit when processing the material and washes away the rock detached by the drill bit and the dust somewhere, a water supply system provides a water supply for cooling and rinsing. A water supply system designed as a water treatment system also offers the possibility of continuously reusing a specific water supply in a so-called infinite loop. For this purpose, the water supply system designed as a water treatment system has a fresh water tank, in which a specific quantity of water is stored for cooling and rinsing. The water treatment system also has a drilling mud tank, in which the drilling mud that accrues from the rock, dust and water is collected. In this connection, the water can be filtered out of the drilling mud by means of a corresponding filter and be conveyed to the fresh water tank again, where it can be conveyed once more to the core drilling device and the drill bit.
A water supply system for use with a machine tool, such as, for example, a core drilling machine, according to the prior art is disclosed in German Patent Application DE 10 9006 035 345 A1 for example.
Core drilling work is complex and requires that various parameters be monitored and adjusted during preparations as well as during the entire time the actual drilling process is being carried out. Among other things, the gearing of the core drilling device, the drilling speed, the torque, the drilling progress and the water quantity that is required for cooling and rinsing must be changed and adjusted. In the case of a water treatment system, the adjustment of the conveyed water quantity for cooling and rinsing in particular is a laborious issue, which frequently causes the user to interrupt the actual drilling process or at the least to conduct it in a manner that is not as efficient and quick as would be possible under optimum conditions. In addition, it is possible that that the core drilling process must be interrupted deliberately by the user for a short time. In the case of such an interruption, not just the core drilling device has to be decelerated and shut off, but also the water treatment system must be shut off or the conveyed water quantity reduced. Simultaneously handling all these settings or adjustments on the core drilling device and on the water treatment system can easily overburden the user so that errors in operation and/or damage to the material being processed or the equipment can occur.
In addition it must be noted that a water supply system, and especially one designed as a water treatment system, has a relatively high energy consumption, because frequently all assemblies or electrically operated components are kept on standby during the entire core drilling process and therefore consume electrical current.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the problems described above and in particular to make available a method for controlling a water supply system for use with a machine tool, in particular a core drilling machine, with which the operation of a core drilling process can be facilitated on the one hand, and with which the energy consumption of a water supply system along with its assemblies can be controlled efficiently on the other.
To this end, a method is made available for controlling a water supply system for use with a machine tool, in particular a core drilling machine, containing a housing with at least one interface for supplying the machine tool with electrical energy, a water tank for storing water in a positionable manner in the housing, at least one line for transporting water from the water tank to the machine tool, at least one pump device for conveying water from the water tank to the machine tool, a current measuring device for measuring the motor current on the machine tool, a water-pressure measuring device for measuring a water pressure in the line and a control device.
The method is characterized according to the invention by the following steps:                Activation of the pump device for conveying water from the water tank to the machine tool if the machine tool is connected to the interface and the motor current of the machine tool exceeds a predetermined threshold value;        Deactivation of the pump device for conveying water from the water tank to the machine tool if the machine tool is connected to the interface and the motor current of the machine tool undershoots a predetermined threshold value; or        Activation of the pump device for conveying water from the water tank to the machine tool if the machine tool is not connected to the interface and a water pressure in the line undershoots a predetermined threshold value;        Deactivation of the pump device for conveying water from the water tank to the machine tool if the machine tool is not connected to the interface and a water pressure in the line exceeds a predetermined threshold value.        
The operation of the pump device or the water supply system can hereby be operated by remote control without the user having to leave the machine tool. In addition, the pump device of the water treatment system is only activated or operated when water is actually required at the machine tool for cooling or rinsing in accordance with the manner in which the core drilling machine is supplied with electrical energy.
Additional advantages are yielded from the following description of the figures. Different exemplary embodiments of the present invention are depicted in the figures. The figures, the description and the claims contain numerous features in combination. A person skilled in the art will also expediently consider the features individually and integrate them into other meaningful combinations.